Hong Kong police arrest two men accused of planning to vandalise Shenzhen-based electric vehicle maker BYD’s showroom
- Four facilities belonging to mainland Chinese vehicle maker were vandalised last week Monday
- Attempted attack was provoked by personal financial dispute and company was not involved, according to police
The Tsim Sha Tsui showroom targeted in the early hours of Wednesday was among four BYD facilities vandalised in the city last week Monday. Three were marked with red paint, and a fourth had its roller gate rammed by a stolen car.
In the latest incident on Wednesday, officers from the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau laid an ambush near the Tsim Sha Tsui showroom around midnight after receiving intelligence suggesting it could be the target of vandalism.
Police swooped in when two men turned up and acted suspiciously outside the showroom at about 2.30am on Wednesday.
Notes demanding debt repayment, paper offerings and a plastic bucket of black paint were allegedly found either in their possession or in an alley, according to Senior Inspector Wong Chun-hong of the bureau.
A preliminary investigation found that at the time of the arrests, the pair was about to vandalise the showroom, he said.
Vandals attack Hong Kong showrooms of electric vehicle manufacturer BYD
Wong said the would-be attack was provoked by a personal financial dispute and appeared to have no connection to the automobile company involved. He did not name BYD during the press briefing.
He did not give details of the financial dispute, saying that the investigation was still under way and further arrests were possible.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the two suspects were still in police custody.
The first of the previous vandalism attacks was reported before 4am on Monday last week after someone found red paint had been poured on the window of BYD’s Tsim Sha Tsui showroom on Chatham Road South, police said.
Officers were called to Hi Yip Street in Yuen Long about 10 minutes later after the rolling shutter of the New Territories showroom was rammed by a car found abandoned on the pavement outside the shop and later identified as stolen.
Hong Kong police arrest man after graffiti spray-painted on US consulate
Police received a report of a third incident after 5am when red paint was poured on the glass door of a commercial building on Gloucester Road in Wan Chai. A force insider said an initial investigation suggested the vandals were targeting BYD’s showroom, which was next to the building’s entrance.
The fourth case came to light before 7am, when police received a call saying the car park entrance of the BYD service centre on Ping Ha Road in Tin Shui Wai had been covered in red paint.
No injuries were reported during the attacks.
Between January and March this year, police handled 1,214 reports of criminal damage across the city, up 4.3 per cent from 1,164 cases logged in the same period in 2022.
